Fig. 1: Tom Holland as Gregory Cromwell
Our ‘Real Wolf Hall’ series of articles continues today with a wonderful article by Teri Fitzgerald on Gregory Cromwell, son of Thomas Cromwell. Make sure you read Teri’s article on Cromwell’s family from last week too – click here.
Gregory Cromwell (played by Tom Holland in Wolf Hall), was born to Thomas Cromwell, a successful London merchant and lawyer, and his wife Elizabeth Wykys, either during the closing weeks of 1519 or early 1520.1 A miscalculation of the boy’s age and an inaccurate estimation of his birth year (1515/16) by J. S. Brewer,2 subsequently accepted by James Gairdner (Dictionary of National Biography) and R. B. Merriman (Life and Letters of Thomas Cromwell) has resulted in persistent myths, not only about Gregory’s character and abilities, but also his relationship with his father.3
Thomas Cromwell was devoted to his son Gregory and took great pains over his care and education.4 His early instruction was supervised by Margaret Vernon, prioress of Little Marlow in Buckinghamshire, a close friend of the boy’s father, whose correspondence with him provides insight into the boy’s early life and places his birth in around 1520.5 From around 1528 to 1533, Gregory and several other boys, including his cousin Christopher Wellyfed and Nicholas Sadler, were at Cambridge. His tutors included John Chekyng, Fellow of Pembroke Hall, and Henry Lockwood, Master of Christ’s College. Henry Dowes, the son of a wealthy Maldon merchant, would later oversee his instruction in History, French, Latin, music and other subjects under a number of carefully chosen tutors, at the homes of his father’s friends and colleagues.6 Dowes would maintain his connection to his pupil for the rest of his life. The young man, praised by the Duke of Norfolk in 1536 as “a wise quick piece” spoke Latin and French, played the lute and virginals, was accomplished in horsemanship, skilled with a longbow and must have been quite a catch.
The post The Real Wolf Hall – The Cromwell Family in Wolf Hall: Gregory Cromwell appeared first on The Anne Boleyn Files.
